John
Nolan (Jeff Goldblum) sells life insurance. He is good at his job.
He wears great suits and exudes a confident air when pitching to clients.
One evening, while purchasing a bottle of wine from a deli/liquor store,
his value system is shockingly awakened, changing his life forever. He
decides to have the wine bottle he chose replaced because the label was
scratched. He later views this request as a contributing factor to the
death of a ex-con clerk fatally shot in the surprise, panicky hold-up
that follows.

Writer/director
Matthew Tabak has coordinated a simple puzzle of events to tell a
wonderful story of reflection, compassion and readjustment. The pivotal
impact on John's life is shown in gradual stages each reflecting his own
concern and deepening curiosity for a deceased stranger.

Goldblum's
performance is quite adept, fulfilling all the required elements of a successful
businessman who is morally distraught and confused by societies lack of
concern over the murder of an ex-con recently released from prison. With
no relatives or friends to speak out for him, Auggie Rose's death will
hardly be investigated and his body will have no funeral. John, seen as
a do-er, will not allow this to pass unmarked, if only by his own conscience.

Unable
to accept what he deems as a momentous event passing with only a shake
of society's collective head, Nolan continues to pursue the details of Auggie's
life regardless of the blasι attitude of the police, his friends or his
live-in girlfriend. As John investigates, we too begin to get caught up
in his life, perhaps more to see where this journey will take both John
and ourselves.

There
is enough directorial skill to admire director Tabak, but he is aware
enough not to allow it to intrude on the simplicity of his story, not
unlike the subtlety of the film's performances.

John
eventually uncovers an imminent meeting for Auggie in a bus terminal
with a prison pen-pal, the pixie-like Anne Heche. Her inclusion in the
story does not seem either appropriate or necessary, but she does help
fill a few of the plot holes in Auggie's life that we were previously
unaware of. It also actually forces John to seek out a employment as a
deli-store clerk to keep up the pretense. NOTE: Her excitement and exuberance
stops him from divulging the truth about Auggie and John begins to fill
the void created by his death.

It
becomes increasingly obvious as the story evolves that John is replacing
Auggie and his everyday existence. In a poignant moment John resigns
from his business and remarks to past clients what they should be doing
when his advice is requested outside on the street. "You know what
I think, I think you should go home and make love to your wife..."
He continues to briefly expound on his new found ideological philosophy
essentially condensing the entire film in a few short sentences. The
greatness of his speech and also of the film is that it never attempts
to cram this message down your throat. It is John's decision, but we too
eventually feel it is the correct one for him.

My
only complaint about this film is the imposed re-titling for marketing
purposes; "Beyond Suspicion"?? This seems as generic as it
gets as well as totally inappropriate for the content of the film. The
back cover of the DVD and VHS tape show an almost imperceptibly remembered
scene in which Heche holds a gun on a would-be blackmailer. It is
obvious what ploy the studio was going for. A shame, but I suppose the
life altering experiences and rebirth of one man is not a big enough
selling feature these days... certainly not as crowd-drawing as a
gun-toting blonde. I LOVED this film and have no trouble giving it out
of.

FILM and DVD Details

BUY (CLICK LOGO:

The
widescreen 1.85:1 anamorphic DVD has excellent picture quality and clear
Dolby digital 5.1 sound. This is obviously not the DVD to test out your
eardrums or impress the neighbors.... the story does not warrant such ostentatious
displays. However, the extras on this product are quite extensive with
an alternate ending (simply removing the final sequence with Heche) and
interviews with the productions principles. A trailer is also included.
It has everything except the, perhaps unnecessary, directors
commentary. out of